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Maegami Ayasho
'Maegami Ayasho '(nicknamed Mae) is the main antagonist of Hinode. She is the sister of Kuzunoha Ayasho, and is the reincarnation of the nine-tailed fox Tamamo no Mae, resurrected from the spiritual energy gained from taking the lives of individuals who dared wander too close to the Killing Stone. Appearance In her 21st century reincarnation, Maegami has red-orange hair, fair skin and amber eyes. Near the end of The Stars and The Moon, she wears a furry grey skirt and top. Background Maegami was originally born as Tamamo Ayasho, along with her older sister Kuzunoha. After watching her parents tortured and killed before her eyes, she started to hold a grudge against humans and swore to gain vengeance someday. When she turned 900, the age when all of her tails had fully grown and all of her power was maximised, she went to China, where she was known as Daji, instantly catching the eye of King Zhou of the Shang dynasty. He made her one of his concubines, but with her wit and charm, her rank eventually rose until she was ruling alongside him. Then she started enforcing her new set of laws - where a simple crime earned the person unreasonable, painful torture as punishment. King Zhou was more than taken aback, but to keep his new wife happy, he agreed to everything she did. This eventually brought about the fall of the dynasty. Satisfied, Tamamo left China for India, where similarly, by catching the king’s attention with her beauty and causing him to commit unspeakable horrors to please his new queen, she befell the kingdom. Once she thought she had done enough, Tamamo left again for her hometown, where she planned to destroy the Heian Palace. While stopping at a local shrine (disguised as a young maiden, of course), she ran into Kuzunoha, her own sister, who was now an acolyte of the priestess there. Knowing what her sister had in mind, Kuzunoha beseeched her to change her mind and learn the ways of Inari, the god of foxes whom the shrine was devoted to. Reluctantly, Tamamo accepted the offer, but soon she found herself thinking over what she planned to do again. All thoughts of vengeance cleared from her mind and heart, she served Inari with her sister as miko for several more long, happy years. Because of her devotion and beauty, Tamamo’s popularity spread like wildfire throughout the capital of Heiankyo. Eventually, the Emperor came to know of her, and asked for her to be brought to his palace. Once there, Tamamo recited poetry and sacred texts for him, which only increased his interest in her. She was asked to stay as a servant in his imperial palace, to which she gladly accepted. Just as before, her rank rose higher and higher as the Emperor grew more and more attracted to her. Soon enough, she was ruling alongside him as empress - but as the days passed, Tamamo began to know of his true colors. The Emperor was a shallow man; the sole reason he wanted her beside him was her beauty alone. He had no care for what she wanted or needed, and she was abused severely both physically and mentally whenever she objected to or refused him. The anger that she thought had left her after all those years slowly began to resurface inside her. Before she knew it, Tamamo found herself plotting a plan to kill the emperor, making it as slow and painful as possible. However, a young warrior named Miuranosuke soon discovered her plan and her true form as a magical fox. Just as Kuzunoha did before, he beseeched her to reconsider what she was planning, and continued to plead to her day after day for her to do so. Moved by his determination, Tamamo did as he wished. The day after, Miuranosuke came again - but this time, to ask for her hand in marriage. Having already secretly fallen for the young warrior during their time together, she accepted, and the two devised a plan to elope. On the promised night, Tamamo and Miuranosuke secretly fled the palace on horseback. They hadn’t gone far when an arrow that had seemingly come out of nowhere struck Miuranosuke in the back of the head, rendering him unconscious. Beyond worried, Tamamo examined the arrow, and discovered that not only was the tip dipped in poison, it seemed to be emitting a strong spiritual energy that stung her eyes and nose when she held it up to her face. Upon closer examination, she discovered it to be because there was a pentagram engraved on the end - a symbol of the Abe clan, famous for its noble onmyoji exorcist Abe no Yasunari. Knowing that it had once again been the actions of humans that had caused someone she cared about and loved dearly to be killed, Tamamo snapped. Taking Miuranosuke’s sword from his sheath, she killed herself on the spot. Her grudge and resentment at the time of her death caused her soul to attach itself to a nearby boulder that killed all who strayed too close to it, earning it the ominous title of The Killing Stone, or Sessho Seki. Not even satisfied with this, Tamamo’s angry spirit summoned all the terrifying creatures of the otherworld - the mononoke and the bakemono - and led them in a parade through Heiankyo, where they used their given powers to bring disaster upon all who lived there. This went on for two long, terrible months, until, to finish off, Tamamo spread an enchanted fire through the capital that killed many. The satisfied spirit of Tamamo then retreated back to its boulder. Relationships Kuzunoha Maegami was never close with her sister to begin with, although Kuzunoha has tried many times to counsel her out of things she planned to do - and sometimes had succeeded. Kuzunoha, however, does love her sister dearly as seen in The Rose and The Secret, where she sacrifices her life to revive her sister through the Taizan Fukun no Sai ritual conducted by Haruaki. Miuranosuke Miuranosuke was the one who talked Maegami out of killing the emperor back in the Heian period. As he did so, however, he fell in love with her, and Maegami returned his affections. The two planned to elope, but Miuranosuke was shot, and died soon after it happened. This had a great impact on Maegami, as seen when she killed herself out of grief for his death and became the Killing Stone. Throughout the series, Maegami has indirectly expressed that one of her motivations were to avenge her lover's death. Seimei Abe Personality Likes and Dislikes Quotes : "The world was never to be tainted with the heartless scum that is man. I, Ayasho Maegami, all-seeing, almighty reincarnation of Tamamo no Mae, shall be the creator of that pure world." : ―Maegami, near the end of The Stars and the Moon. Trivia * Mae is based on the mythological fox Tamamo no Mae. In fact, Tamamo no Mae was her former self. *Maegami, along with her sister Kuzunoha, were originally going to have the last name Ayano - which had the same set of kanji but a different reading to their current one, Ayasho. This was changed to prevent confusion with a certain other character with the name Ayano. *Maegami's least favorite food are tomatoes. *Maegami's favorite anime is Attack on Titan.